Safety-type cathead construction



Feb. 14, 1950 S. T. HUMBERSQN SAFETY TYPE CATHEAD CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 4, 1947 Fig. l.

Inventor Sidney I Humbersan g WWW 19. M5

Patented Feb. 14, 1950 I 2,497,220

srmr as PATENT *G- FrFlGE 2.,'497',220 SAEE IHFTYBE UNIHEED GONSTKUCTION Sidney :TQHumbisrson, Gasper; Wyn. flpDlication-Seriteniber 14, 1 947 Serial 7725082 :4 Claims. (Cl.254176) 2 The present inventionerelatesitos'ainovelzsafid Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectionaliandaeleiimprovedcatheadwhich iszdistin ishable-strum vational view,:disr'losingra icatheadzconstructed sturally.zandxfunctionally .from commonly. known =-in.iaccor.danoe ;.withzthe :principles- .of theipresent types, in :that .it .is constructed to -.-'.prevent :the :invention. ezcatline 1from "fouling, becoming :unmanageable L'Fi'gurei.2.:is an :elevational view .of .ithesame, -randfproducing aicondition, whichpunder presentz-tshowing the catline w d p fly pp atday3circumstances,:catchesan operator and manwplace.

:xg'les :his :body beforeethe :powerin'g .meanszcan'zbe iFigureifiv is :anwendzelevationalview :of iliigure .-"stopped and brought undercontrol. 1:2, e-iobservin'g "same sin Ea :direction from I left to In. carrying out the principles of the instant inbright. vention, I have evolved and produced a inovel se-R'eferringsnowi'to'ithe drawingsbydistinguish- :zcathead :001'1St1110ti011, which is such that the :in'gereferencesnumeralstande-accompanying' lea'd swindings-Of-"the catli-neare-systematically and 1':lines,uit.-will;rbe seenthat' the numeral 5 desig- -progressively "guided and wound smoothly and rnates a fra'gmentaryrportions o'f 1a common-type uniformly, whereby to prevent overlapping and 115 sdraw-work i which is equipped with .a source of "consequent difficult to manage fouling. --power Cnot shown);forrotating the jack shaft 6, More specifically, the' unit, whi'h constitutes eon whichi' the cathead' T-is keyed for-rotation, as the primary improvement-basic do-w' i'th a simple atiB. fltwvill ibe -noted that the' jack shaft hasa andexpedient-'structure,-'the inner end of which "stud n itsliter-end, Whi'ch 'terminates inis fastened to the relatively stationary draw *z0ewardly Lthe' bore arid'is provided with a clampwork, the outer-"end coacting intimately with the iiing nut -fll, thus defining anadaptor pocket 1-], ecorrespondingeend of the;c.athead, andthexinterat-the outer end ofsaid bore.

mediate portions comprising ;.helical:coi-ls-which l -he catline guide-or"spo6ling and controller wrap around the ...periphery. of...the..cathead and -u-r ii 1s denoted, generstllyg'bythe numeral l2- and provide the'aforementione'd guides and interven- 'fileiucomprises amannulusor annular 'flange IS, which ing-spaces, in which thewi-ridings of the-- catline -is -bolted=-'securely,#as=at I4, t0' the draw-work snesteandlodge thus-attainingithe uniformr -wrap- "casing -S. Thisannular portion -is providedwith :=aroundiresultv desired. -a collar lfi whose spiralling surface I 6 serves to 'Anotheraobjectm .the invention is to:.provide pilotand guide-the windings i! 'of the catline :asimple.andpractical.safetyccatline controller"'30'zaround'the cathead 1. The collar is, in'eifect, r andjguide meansuwhich minimizes foulingaand head tak ing the'place-ofthe-usualiiange prowhich also spacesthe-windings-of'the catline one 1 .icled on ordinary type catheads. A similar from the other and consequently prevents chaffi hea'ide-forming"abutment or shoulder I8 is; proing an'd-undue line wear. vided atmhe-outer=endofthe-unit, and is integral -Another objectbathe-invention is to eprovide 5 with a segmental or sector-shaped plate I 9, a safety controller unit, which is in the form of awhichtcofitacts the outer end -ohthe cathead and an attachment and which is capable of being aswhich has an inwardly projecting journal sociated with conventional-type catheads now in situated in the aforementioned adaptor pocket service, by making comparatively simple altera- II. The intermediate portion of the unit is tions in the existing structure. 0 made up of a plurality of helical coils 2| which A further object is to provide an entire newsurround the outer periphery of the cathead, the type cathead which is especially made to accomsame being detached and of requisite resiliency. modate the controller unit, and in which the lat- These coils define a spiralling channelway 22 ter embodies yieldable coils unattached from the between themselves and the cathead to which the cathead proper, thus providing the compensatwindings of the catline wrap in uniform progresing properties in the handling of lines of differsive and smooth fashion, as is obvious. Th unit ent diameters and also providing sufficient fric- I2 may be made of steel, cold rolled iron or may tion against the windings to insure non-slipping be cast in one piece, if desired. The cathead tight results. rotates freely, in relation to the parts which go Other objects and advantages will become more to make up that unit. The spaces between the readily apparent from the following description coils are regulated, according to the size of the of the accompanying drawings. rope used.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are 1 The provision and self-accommodating nature employed to designate like parts throughout the of the unit in relation to the cathead, provides views: requisite lifting power while eliminating the haz- 3 ard of the catline becoming twisted, fouled and consequently unmanageable, as previously pointed out.

It is submitted that persons working in oil fields, familiar with difliculties attending presentday constructions, will readily appreciate the import of the invention and the many advantages attending same, when in use.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction with the invention as illustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features of merit and novelty sulficient to clarify the construction of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made from the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. In a cathead construction of the class described, a relatively stationary draw-work having a bearing, a jack shaft mounted for rotation in said bearing and projecting beyond said drawwork, an annular collar having an attaching flange bolted to said draw-work, said collar concentrically surrounding said bearing and shaft, a helical coil having a plurality of convolutions, said coil being integrally connected with said collar,

"and a cylindrical cathead keyed on said shaft and rotatable within the inner peripheral confines of said coil, the outermost convolution of said coil terminating in a shoulder forming plate, said plate being parallel to said collar and attaching flange and having an axial projection constituting a journal, said journal projecting into the outer end portion of the bore of said cathead.

2. In a structure of the class described, a relatively stationary draw-work having a bearing, a

jack shaft mounted for rotation in said bearing and projecting beyond the draw-work, a shoulderless cathead having an axial bore, said shaft being keyed to said cathead in said bore, and terminating short of one end of the bore thereby providing a journal accommodating pocket, a collar surrounding the inner end portion of said cathead having a flange fixedly attached to said draw-work, a helical coil having a plurality of turns connected with and extending outwardly beyond said collar and surrounding and detached from the peripheral surface of said cathead, and a journal carried by the coil farthest away from said draw-work, said journal projecting into said pocket and aligned with said shaft.

3. In a structure of the class described, a relatached to said drawwork, a helical coil having a plurality of turns connected with and extending outwardly beyond said collar and surrounding and detached from the peripheral surface of said cathead, the outermost turn terminating in a shoulder radiating from the surface of the cathead and further including a sector-shaped plate, said plate being provided with an inturned journal and said journal projecting axially into said pocket.

4. An attachment for a draw-work, said attachment being adapted to surround and cage-in a power-driven collarless cathead, being adapted for support partly by way of the draw-Work and partly by way of the cathead, comprising a collar adapted to surround an inner end portion of the cathead, said collar having an outstanding attaching flange adapted to be rigidly mounted on said draw-Work, said collar being provided with an axially aligned helical coil having a plurality of turns, said turns being adapted to surround the peripheral surface of the cathead to provide catlin controller and guide means, the endmost turn, farthest from said collar terminating in a lateral plate, said plate being parallel to said collar, and the face of the plate directed toward said collar having an axially positioned stud constituting a journal, the latter being adapted to extend into the bore of a cathead.

SIDNEY T. HUMBERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,288,784 Williams Dec. 24, 1918 1,489,902 Segelhorst Apr. 8, 1924 1,659,521 Dye Feb. 14, 1928 1,734,832 Shanklin Nov. 5, 1929 1,856,503 Murray May 3, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 261,237 Italy Nov. 16, 1928 

